The Pentagon Memorial Fund said it received $250,000 from American Forests, a conservation organization, in its effort to raise $32 million for a memorial park dedicated to people who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack.

For more than five years, relatives of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the Pentagon have been meeting each month to track the progress of their mission: creating a place to memorialize their loved ones.They have seen the project evolve from just words and wishes to an international design competition, then to a major fundraising effort ranging from neighborhood lemonade stands to corporate boardroom pitches. Now, it finally seems real.